Review of Frankenweenie (2012) by Jack F — 17 Oct 2013

"Frankenweenie" is classic Tim Burton: striking, sometimes gothic visuals, rousing Danny Elfman score, a misfit hero, and a bizarrely appealing story. (About the only thing that's truly missing is the participation of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Barter, his favorite performer collaborators.) There's also an undeniable affection for the cinema of old, particularly the classic monster movies. The most obvious references are to Frankenstein (duh!) and his Bride, but there are also nods to Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and even Godzilla. The fact that the entire film is black-and-white is also an obvious homage.

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the stop-motion puppetry employed in films such as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (story by Burton) and "Corpse Bride" (directed and characters created by Burton), and "Frankenweenie" is yet another good example of this non-traditional animation. In fact, much of the characters in this film look a lot like the ones from "Corpse Bride," so I wouldn't be surprised if some of the same puppets were used. When it comes to these types of films, Burton's track record is almost as good as the team at Pixar.

The story involves a young boy named Victor Frankenstein (voiced by Charlie Tahan), and whether or not he was named after the infamous doctor, he sure seems to have taken after him. Victor has two great loves in his life: science, especially the hardcore kind taught by his teacher, Mr. Rzykruski (voiced by Martin Landau), and his dog, Sparky. Sparky is his only real friend, so you can imagine his devastation when the dog gets struck and killed by a car one afternoon.

Even with the loving words of encouragement from his parents (voiced by Catherine O'Hara and Martin Short), Victor is inconsolable...that is until, inspired by a science demonstration conducted by Mr. Rzykruski, he manages to bring his deceased dog back to life. Sparky's a little worse for wear--his stitched up parts have a tendency to fall off when he gets excited--but he's still the same peppy, happy-go-lucky mutt who loves his master. However, when the other kids at school get wind of Victor's freaky experiments, things begin to get a little out of hand...

One of the joys of the film (besides the numerous references to many other films) is the fact that, although Victor is a bit of an outcast in the mold of traditional Burton-esque heroes, he's really no moreso than any of the other children in his class. One such child is Edgar Gore (voiced by "The Middle's" Atticus Shaffer), also known as "E" (as in "E Gore"), who, as you may have guessed, is bug-eyed, hunchbacked, and desperately wants to be Victor's assistant. Victor's neighbor, Elsa, dresses and acts just like Lydia Deetz from Burton's "Beetlejuice" (which I'm sure is no accident, considering she's voiced by Winona Ryder). And then there's the skeletal-looking girl credited only as Weird Girl (also voiced by O'Hara), who seems to be able to predict the future based on the droppings her cat leaves in its litterbox. We could probably watch a whole movie about any of these kids and it'd be just as entertaining.

I also like that, despite the chaos that occurs due to Victor's tampering with the cycle of life, the movie is pro-science. Too often in these kind of monster movies, the main message seems to be that science is wrong. Science is the Devil. Science is the equivalent of black magic. Science is responsible for all these monsters. Yet, as Mr. Rzykruski explains to Victor, science is neither good nor bad, although it can be used for both purposes. If a person attempts a science experiment with the goal of somehow bettering the world, the results will most likely be better than those who do so with selfish motivations. (Of course, this isn't ALWAYS the case, as even the best of intentions can lead to some disasters, but for the most part, this is a good lesson to learn.).

I should point out that "Frankenweenie" is probably not the best film for really young viewers, who may find the occasionally morbid subject matter a little too intense (and not to mention, possibly a little scary). This one will be better appreciated by those who are a bit older; adults, though, particularly monster movie cinephiles, will likely get a pretty big kick out of it. There's never been any doubt about the fact that Burton is a bit of an oddball filmmaker, but the man has a knack for putting his indelible stamp on his movies. If you enjoy his stuff, particularly his previous forays into animation territory, you'll probably like this one too.